The present disclosure relates, in various embodiments, to compositions suitable for use in electronic devices, such as thin film transistors (“TFT”s). The present disclosure also relates to layers produced using such compositions and electronic devices containing such layers.
Thin film transistors (TFTs) are fundamental components in modern-age electronics including, for example, sensors, image scanners, and electronic display devices. TFT circuits using current mainstream silicon technology may be too costly for some applications, particularly for large-area electronic devices such as backplane switching circuits for displays (e.g., active matrix liquid crystal monitors or televisions) where high switching speeds are not essential. The high costs of silicon-based TFT circuits are primarily due to the use of capital-intensive silicon manufacturing facilities as well as complex high-temperature, high-vacuum photolithographic fabrication processes under strictly controlled environments. It is generally desired to make TFTs which have not only much lower manufacturing costs, but also appealing mechanical properties such as being physically compact, lightweight, and flexible.
TFTs are generally composed of a supporting substrate, three electrically conductive electrodes (gate, source and drain electrodes), a channel semiconductor layer, and an electrically insulating gate dielectric layer separating the gate electrode from the semiconductor. The channel semiconductor is in turn in contact with the source and drain electrodes. Recently, there has been an increased interest in plastic thin film transistors which can potentially be fabricated using solution-based patterning and deposition techniques, such as spin coating, solution casting, dip coating, stencil/screen printing, flexography, gravure, offset printing, ink jet-printing, micro-contact printing, and the like, or a combination of these processes. Such processes are generally simpler and more cost effective compared to the complex photolithographic processes used in fabricating silicon-based thin film transistor circuits for electronic devices. To enable the use of these solution-based processes in fabricating thin film transistor circuits, solution processable materials are therefore required.
Most of the current materials research and development activities for plastic thin film transistors has been devoted to semiconductor materials, particularly solution-processable organic and polymer semiconductors. Other material components such as solution processable dielectric materials have not received much attention.
For plastic thin film transistor applications, it is desirable to have all the materials be solution processable. It is also highly advantageous that the materials be fabricated on plastic substrates at a temperature of less than about 200° C., and particularly less than about 150° C. The use of plastic substrates, together with flexible organic or polymer transistor components can transform the traditional thin film transistor circuits on rigid substrates into mechanically more durable and structurally flexible plastic thin film transistor circuit designs. Flexible thin film transistor circuits will be useful in fabricating mechanically robust and flexible electronic devices.
Other than solution processable semiconductor and conductor components, solution processable dielectric materials are critical components for the fabrication of plastic thin film transistor circuits for use in plastic electronics, particularly flexible large-area plastic electronics devices.
The dielectric layer should be free of pinholes and possess low surface roughness (or high surface smoothness), low leakage current, a high dielectric constant, a high breakdown voltage, adhere well to the gate electrode, be stable in solution at room temperature, and offer other functionality. It should also be compatible with semiconductor materials because the interface between the dielectric layer and the organic semiconductor layer critically affects the performance of the TFT. Additionally, for flexible integrated circuits on plastic substrates, the dielectric layer should be readily curable at elevated temperatures that would not adversely affect the dimensional stability of the plastic substrates, i.e., generally less than about 200° C., including less than about 150° C.
A wide variety of organic and polymer materials, including polyimides, poly(vinylphenol), poly(methyl methacrylate), polyvinylalcohol, poly(perfluoroethylene-co-butenyl vinyl ether), and benzocyclobutene have been studied for use in dielectric layers. These materials, however, do not generally meet all the economic and/or functional requirements of low-cost thin film transistors.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a dielectric material composition that is solution processable and which composition can be used in fabricating the gate dielectric layers of thin film transistors. It is further desirable to provide a dielectric material that will permit easy fabrication of a gate dielectric layer for thin film transistors by solution processes, that is pinhole free, has a high dielectric constant, and exhibits electrical and mechanical properties that meet the device physical and performance requirements. It is also desirable to provide a material for fabricating the dielectric layer for thin film transistors that can be processed at a temperature compatible with plastic substrate materials to enable fabrication of flexible thin film transistor circuits on plastic films or sheets.